Capillary forces and capillary bridges between a three-finger microgripper and a plate

ABSTRACT The presence of surface tension in liquids, which induces a strong capillary force between wetting particles in micro/nano scale, has aroused extensive attention. In present study, a fundamental investigation on capillary forces and rupture behaviors of capillary bridges between a three-finger microgripper and a plate is conducted in quasi-static state. Theoretical analysis is performed for solutions of the capillary force. The capillary bridges between a three-finger microgripper and a plate are established based on the principle of energy minimization. An analytical approach for computing the capillary force for the three-finger/plate geometry is proposed by means of variables obtained from the simulation models. The comparison of the single-finger capillary bridge and three-finger capillary bridge is investigated based on the developed models. The effects of separation distance, capillary bridge volume, radial distance and contact angle on the capillary force of three-finger capillary bridges are analyzed in detail. The results demonstrate that the variation of capillary force with separation distance and volume changing is not monotonic, which is caused by the edge effect of the three-finger microgripper. Capillary force measurements were experimentally characterized to demonstrate the reliability of the simulation models and the capillary force solution method based on an established experimental platform.